8.  Gorlois.] Gornois, Br.—Gwrlas, iarll Kernyv, Arth. Gvrlais, Tys. (Gottfried's von Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae, Schulz, 1854).

    Gorlois (3 syl.), said by some to be the father of king Arthur.  He was lord of Tintagel Castle, in Cornwall; his wife was Igrayne (3 syl.) or Igerna, and one of his daughters (Bellicent) was, according to some authorities, the wife of Lot king of Orkney.
    Gorlois was not the father of Arthur, although his wife (Igerna or Igrayne) was his mother.
    Then all the kings asked Merlin, "For what causes is that beardless boy Arthur made king?"  "Sirs," said Merlin, "because he is king Uther's son, born in wedlock... More than three hours after the death of Gorlois did the king wed the fair Igrayna."—Malory: History of Prince Arthur, i. 2, 6 (1470).
    [Uther] was sorry for the death of Gorlois, but rejoiced that Igerna was now at liberty to marry again... they continued to live together with much affection and had a son and daughter, whose names were Arthur and Anne.—Geoffrey, British History, iii. 20 (1142).
    It is quite impossible to reconcile the contradictory accounts of Arthur's sister and Lot's wife.  Tennyson says Bellicent, but the tales compiled by sir T. Malory all give Margause.  Thus in La Mort d'Arthur, i. 2, we read, "King Lot of Lothan and of Orkeney wedded Margawse [Arthur's sister]" (pt. i. 33), "whose sons were Gawaine, Agravaine, Gaheris, and Gareth;" but Tennyson says Gareth was "the last son of Lot and Bellicent." (The Reader's Handbook of Allusions, References, Plots and Stories, Brewer, 1880)